Back to School
by thedarkandtwisties
Summary: Some of her school record were invalidated. Now, in order to keep her medical license, Dr. Meredith Grey must repeat a semester of high school. Based on a dream I had.


**This story is based off of a dream I had a while back in which all of the residents and even some attendings were attending high school (in their scrubs) as well as working at the hospital. An image from that which I can't quite shake is Meredith being on call during class and having to rush out in the middle of a lecture to perform surgery. I know that there is no way this would ever happen in real life, but it's my brain crack, so just go with it.**

**Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy belongs to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. Anything you recognize was written by her.**

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End of 6X09 before bar scene:

"…I'll inform her immediately and we'll get this sorted out. Thank you." Richard Webber hung up the phone and with shaking hands, paged the woman in question. 11 years, he reflected. 11 years he has been the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West. It was a demanding position, perhaps it was becoming too much for him; the merger, the surgeries, running the hospital. Accidently clipping the common bile duct was a grave error, an error that should never have been made and it became clear to him that he needed to reassess his own capabilities. To not do so honestly would be to put the lives of his patients at risk, and he knew he could never live with himself if a patient died under his knife because he made a mistake. Stepping down was the right decision, and Dr. Bailey was more than qualified to take his place. He trusted her. It had been a long day and he was exhausted, hopefully this wouldn't take too long. He could use a drink.

"You paged?" Richard lifted his head to see a familiar form entering his office. He nodded and beckoned her forward.

"Come and take a seat Meredith. There's something we need to discuss." He said with a heavy tone. The young doctor sat down across from him.

"Sounds serious," she replied with concern, knowing that something wasn't right. "What's going on?" The chief shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"How was your first day back?" She seemed surprised by the question. Is this what he paged her for? To check up on her?

"It was fine" she answered. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you get to the point? We were just on our way out when I got your page. Derek is waiting for me in the lobby." Having all of her surgeries snatched up by the residents from Mercy West on her first day back at work after recovering from the liver transplant caused Dr. Meredith Grey to be quite an irritable woman. She was really hoping to get her gloves dirty. While she didn't want to push him if he was indeed planning on telling her why he wasn't quite himself, there were other places she had to be.

"Of course" he replied hastily. The chief paused for a moment, trying to figure out a delicate way of delivering the news. "I just got a call from the Board of Education in Boston; apparently there is some sort of problem with your school records. You spent a semester abroad in your senior year of high school, correct?"

"I did" she replied. "Why?"

There was no use in stalling any longer. "It has just been discovered that your records from that semester were falsified and no longer valid. As of this afternoon you are, at least on paper, a high school dropout. Now, I wish there was a better way to sort this out, but in order to keep your medical license, you must retake that semester and regain the credit as soon as possible."

Meredith said nothing, only stared at him in disbelief. She is a doctor! A 3rd year surgical resident! After 4 years at Dartmouth and 4 years of medical school, how could high school still be relevant? This can't be serious. It must be some sort of joke. High school was a thing of the past. High school was a wardrobe full of black clothing, angry pink hair, teenage angst, and very loud music blasting from her speakers at any given time. There weren't very many friends to speak of (besides Sadie of course, but she went to a different school); her appearance accompanied by the rumors spread about her supposed hobby of hacking up little girls and taking them apart to see how they work (a somewhat morbid interpretation of Anatomy Jane), kept most people at a safe distance. Having been raised by Ellis Grey, she was fiercely independent and accustomed to be left alone, so she did nothing to refute the rumors and accepted the role. Once in a while, some freshman would be daring enough (or perhaps they were playing a game of truth or dare and refused to be called a coward, or perhaps there was money involved) to approach her; and if they were feeling especially courageous, talk to her. That happened very rarely. Throughout the majority of her high school career, the only interactions she'd had with her peers was limited to group projects, lab partners, and class discussions; she never sacrificed a grade or held back academically in order to preserve her reputation. The majority of her classes were honors and AP and she never received anything lower than an –A. But apparently, no one expected her to exceed academically. Everyone was surprised when she showed up at graduation when she returned from her semester in France. They all thought she had dropped out all those months ago, got arrested, some even believed she commit suicide. But that was years ago. It's over and done with, and she is not that person anymore. She may still be dark and twisty, but now she is a grown woman with a job and a husband. She is not a teenager with pink hair anymore. This is preposterous. Shaking her head, she snapped out of it and took a few moments to compose herself before reclaiming her voice.

"I don't understand. This must be some kind of joke. A cruel, unfunny joke."

"Meredith, I'm sorry. I truly wish it was, but it's not."

"Well, maybe it's a little funny," she giggled.

"I promise you, this isn't a joke. It's an inconvenience that must be dealt with, however ridiculous it seems," contended the chief, although he did agree with her.

"That's just it though; it's completely and utterly ridiculous!" exclaimed Meredith as she rose from her chair and began to pace back and forth in front of the chief's desk. "I'm 34 years old, that's twice the age of high school students. I graduated from high school when they were in diapers. While they were learning the alphabet and how to multiply by 5, I graduated from college and med school. I'm a doctor! _I am a doctor_, and a damn good one at that. So please, I'm begging you, explain to me how they can justify revoking my license to practice medicine, to save lives, because some of my high school credits are all of a sudden invalid? It's much more than inconvenient, it's wrong. I'd like to talk to these people. Give them a piece of my mind. Just who do they think they are…" She mumbled profanities under her breath, still pacing.

"Meredith…"

"Please," she yawned "I'm exhausted, and I'd like to go home with my husband. Sorry about the rant, could we- could we just discuss this tomorrow? I'd rather not think about it right now."

"Alright, but we need to sort this out. I'll talk to the board and we'll see if arrangements can be made for you to get the credits without attending the classes. This hospital needs you Meredith, you have your mother's talent as well as your own- one of the best residents I've ever seen."

"Thank you, Chief." Meredith smiled and turned to leave. "Have a good night."

"You too," he replied "get some sleep."

-not much later that night-

"Another club soda, Joe" said the chief, sliding forward his glass.

"You going home after this or back to the hospital?" Joe questioned.

"Another club soda, then home."

Joe sighed, but obliged. "I'm gonna need your keys." Reluctantly, the chief handed his keys to the barman who deposited them into his pocket and poured him another glass of vodka and placed it on the counter. "I'll call you a cab when you're ready."

Taking the drink in his hands, Richard put it to his lips and drank, reflecting. His abilities as chief being taken into question, being confronted by Derek and then firing him (which didn't exactly stick), firing Izzie, confronting Thatcher Grey about his alcohol problem, erring in surgery, and now, Meredith might have to repeat a semester of high school. Meredith, who was a constant reminder of what he lost, and the closest thing he had to a daughter. He meant what he had said; she is one of the best residents he's ever seen. There had to be another way to make this right, and he would find it.

A few stools to the right, Meredith was ordering another drink for the distraught Alex Karev who was sitting in their booth. Derek received a 911 page just as they were leaving. He said it wouldn't take long, so she waited for him at Joe's, taking the opportunity to be there for her friend and fellow resident after being left again by his cancerous wife. Her eyes wandered to her left where they spotted the chief and then the offensive drink in his hands. Suddenly, his recent behavior made sense.

The chief's eyes caught hers, they were filled with guilt. Her eyes followed him as he stood up and walked out of the bar, leaving an unfinished drink on the counter.

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**Please Review**

**-Rose**


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